Long before Miss Farren, afterwards Countess of Derby (died April 21, 1829), first charmed a London audience, we hear of her in 1772 at Wakefield in one of her first parts—­if not her first—­that of Columbine.  She could both sing well and dance gracefully.  One of the earliest “parts” that even the great Mrs. Siddons (that afterwards was), when a young girl, played, was in connection with Pantomime, as Combes remembered to have seen her “Standing by the side of her father’s stage, and knocking a pair of snuffers against a candle-stick to imitate the sound of a wind-mill, during the representation of some Harlequinade.”

In days gone by Madame Leclerq, Carlotta Leclerq, Charles Kean’s Columbine in the seasons of 1850-1-2, E. Dennett, Emma Boleno, died October 18th, 1867, aged 35; Marie Charles, who died from an accident by fire, Pavilion Theatre, January 21, 1864, and others have won considerable fame in the part of Columbine.

Amongst those who have played Harlequin in days gone by, have been the elder Kean, and the well-known actor, Mr. Wilson Barrett, who, early in his career, played this part for an extra two shillings and sixpence “thrown in,” to augment his then weekly salary of seventeen shillings and sixpence; whilst Sir Henry Irving tells us that he also has appeared in Pantomime, in the character of a wicked fairy, named Venoma, in days since past, for a small monetary emolument.

CHAPTER XIX.

Popular Pantomime subjects—­Poor Pantomime Librettos—­Pantomime subjects of our progenitors—­The various versions of “Aladdin”—­“The Babes in the Wood”—­“Blue Beard”—­“Beauty and the Beast”—­“Cinderella”—­“Dick Whittington”—­“The House that Jack Built”—­“Jack the Giant Killer”—­“Jack and the Beanstalk”—­“Red Riding Hood”—­“The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood”—­Unlucky subjects—­“Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”—­“The Fair One with Golden Locks”—­The source of “Sindbad the Sailor” and “Robinson Crusoe.”

It may be of interest in this History of Pantomime to note the origin of some of our most popular present day Pantomime subjects, besides showing many of our present day Pantomime libretto writers that in such well-known themes as “Aladdin,” “Cinderella,” and others, there is no need to cast their stories pretty much in the same groove, year after year, when by drawing on the fairy-lore of the East much that is new and original, for present-day English Pantomimes, is waiting the attention of their skill and ingenuity.

Though the stories of popular English Pantomimes are practically the same each year (why I do not know), yet, not content with this, in many of our large cities and towns we frequently see the same Pantomime title not only “billed” at one theatre, but perhaps at several others.  This clashing and clashing year after year with one another’s titles (I say nothing about the “plots,” as these, in many instances, only consist of a half-penny worth of author to an intolerable deal of music-hall gag), cannot but, I have long been of opinion, adversely affect the box-office receipts, unless, of course, the Pantomime-goer makes a point of “doing the round,” so to speak, which, however, is not generally the case.